Limestone Organic Creamery: One Farm Does It All
Limestone Organic Creamery
Dairy farming is busy work. The days start early and don’t wrap up until late. It’s a job that takes dedication and plenty of patience, but that’s life for Olivia Groenewegen and her family — and has been for three generations. They run Limestone Organic Creamery, a full-scale dairy operation north of Kingston in the town of Elginburg.
They do it all here. Cows are milked in the morning and the milk is processed and bottled right on site. They do deliveries, too, and there are about 400 homes in the area on Limestone Organic Creamery’s delivery list, including retail locations and restaurants in Kingston.
“We want to keep the rural heritage and rural farming going in our local community, we find it’s something really important to us.”
Olivia Groenewegen, Limestone Organic Creamery
Becoming an organic creamery starts on the farm. Limestone’s crops are free of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and the cows are free of antibiotics — it’s a tradition that has continued for more than 20 years.
“We try to treat everything as naturally and preventatively as possible,” says Olivia. “We pasteurize all of our milk and then bottle it into glass bottles, retaining all of our organic certifications and then sell it to our customer.”
By keeping their prices as low as they can, and selling or delivering directly, Limestone Organic Creamery can cut out the middleman while still ensuring their organic products are as accessible as possible. The interest in eating healthy and organic continues to evolve as a social movement — especially in Kingston and Frontenac communities — and young and growing families are looking for local and affordable options.
“We hope Limestone Creamery is beneficial to our local community and other producers,” Olivia says. “We try to preserve small family farms in our area and just promote local food and connectedness between our community and people who love to eat, people that like to grow food — all that comes together.”
Besides selling their own dairy, they carry products from about 30 other local producers in their farm store and online.
The Frontenac growing community is supportive of one another and there is a sense of pride that runs through the region as more and more producers find success. Especially when it comes to teaming up with Kingston’s culinary creatives — bringing fresh, local products to over 20 restaurants and shops around the city, like AquaTerra and The Grocery Basket.
“I think what makes Limestone Creamery unique is that it gives people the opportunity to come out to our farm, meet some of our cows, get to know us, build that trust and just feel connected to the food they’re buying.”
Limestone has been a stalwart figure in the Frontenac farming landscape, and the farm and creamery have been in operation since the late ‘60s. Olivia and her brother are part of the farm’s third generation and are excited to see their family’s legacy continue.
“We want to keep the rural heritage and rural farming going in our local community,” Olivia says. “We find it’s something really important to us.”
